Anti-aircraft gun



F. BONALI.

ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. H, 1911.

1,340,111. P te ed M y 11,1920.

6 SHEETSSHET l- F. BONALI.

ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN.

APPLICATION FILED 0111.11. 1911.

1,340,111. 11 161161 May 11,1920.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2- F. BONALI.

ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN.

APPLICATION FILED 001. I1, 1911.

Patented May 11, 1920.

6 SHEETS$HEET 4.

544 uewtoz F. BDNALI. ANTl-MRCRAFT GUN. APPLICATION men OCT. 11, I911.

Patented May 11, 1920.

7 ILEEEZ F. BONALI.

Ann AmcRArT GUN. A'Fmcmon mm car. 11. ii'i.

1,340, 1 1 1 Pmnwi y 11, 1920.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

314 uemto'c I Jana/Z1;

.W/MMJQ. R a mm War UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK BONALI, 0F CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO DR. CARLO DE FELIGE, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y.

ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 11, 19211 Application filed October 11, 1917. Serial No. 196,014.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK BONALI, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clifton, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Anti-Aircraft (luns; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates generally to ordnance, and more particularly to certain new and useful improvements in anti air craft guns.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a gun to be used particularly for firing at air craft, said gun having a central barrel, a plurality of diverging barrels arranged in an annular series around the cen tral barrel and means for firing all of said barrels simultaneously so as to be more effective in hitting its target than anti air craft guns now in use which are only provided with a single barrel and which require far more accurate aiming.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gun of this character having a cartridge container for holding a plurality of cartridges, said container having a sliding movement across the rear end of the gun, and having a swiveled connection with the same so that when the gun is elevated to a considerable angle the cartridge container may be slid into open position and turned into a vertical lane so as to permit it being easily filled wit cartridges.

A still further object of the invention is to provide ananti air craft gun having, in connection with the above referred to plurality of barrels and the cartridge container. a breech block containing a plurality of firing pins and a tri ger mechanism for operating all of saic firing pins simultaneously.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved mounting for the breech block and mechanism for moving it to opened and closed positions.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a gun of this character which is comparatively light and compact, and the parts of which are disposed so that access tothem may be readily obtained. The recoil cylinders of the gun extend forwardly of the cradle in which the barrel receiver is slidably mounted so as to not interfere with the working of the breech mechanism of the With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel features of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of the application, and in which similar reference characters are used to designate like parts throughout the several views: I

Figure 1 is an elevation of one side of an anti air craft gun constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the gun;

Fig. 3 is a rearelevation of the gun;

Fig. 4 is a central vertical sectional view of the gun taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

of the other side Fig. 5 is an enlarged central vertical sec tional view through the rear end of the barrel receiver and breech block and parts intimately associated with the same; 4

Fig. 6 is a rear view of a portion of the gun, showin the breech block in its opened position an the cartrid container slid transversely from behin oeiver;

Fig. 7 is a rear view of the barrel receiver.

and cartridge container, said view being taken substantially on the plane of the line 7-7 of Fig. 6 and looking in the direction of the arrows w-a;

Fig. 8 is a similar view taken substanthe barrel retially on the same plane, the cartridge containezghowever, being shown in closed or operative position;

Fig. 9 is an elevation of the front side of the cartridge container;

Fig/10 is an elevation of the front side of the breech block, the said view being taken substantially on a plane indicated by the line 10-10 of Fig. 5; and,

Fig. 11 is a rear view of the breech block barrel and arra taken substantially on the plane indicated by the line 11-11 of Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a edestal upon which the gun is mounted. T is pedestal may rest upon a suitable fixed foundation, or ltmay be fixed in any suitable manner u on a motor truck or the like. The to 0 the pedestal is provided with a suitable bearing means 2 which turnably receives the gun carriage 3. The traversing adjustment of the gun is operated b turning the carriage 3 in its bearing on t 0 edestal b operating a traversin hand w eel 4 whic is fixed to one end o a shaft 5 on which is mounted'a worm 6, the latter meshing with a pinion 7 mounted on the outer end of a shaft 8 which extends transversely through the lower end of the carriage 3 and which has a beveled pinion 9 mounted on its inner end, the pinion 9 meshing1 with a fixed beveled gear wheel 10 carrie by the pedestal where by turning the hand wheel 4 the worm 6 will revolve and turn the shaft 8 throu h the medium of the pinion 7 and this wil? cause the carriage 3 to turn, since the inion 9 will ride upon the fixed gear 10 The carriage 3 is provided with a pair of longitudinally-curved spaced arms 11, the

ends of which 'are provided with bearings which receive the trunnions 12 which extend from the diametricall opposite sides of a tubular cradle 13. is cradle 13 is provided witha pair of longitudinally extending slots 14 disposed at its upper and lower sides. The slots preferably extend from the rear end of the cradle to a point a slight distance forwardlyof the middle portion of the same.

Slidable within the cradle 13 is a cylindrical projectile-receiver 15 with which a plurality of gun barrels 16 are united in any suitable manner. In the present instance four barrels are shown, one of which projects from the central portion of the recelver 15 in a true forward direction, while the other three barrels are arran ed in divergin relation to one another an to the centra ed in an annular series. By this 00118151'110131011 it will be seen that if all of the barrels are fired simultaneously, the shells or projectiles will scatter, and

I there is more chance of a number of them Ending the target than if only one shot was re V Fixed to diametrically opposite sides of the pro'ectile-receiver 15 1s a pair of L shaped rackets or lugs 17 arms of which pro ect outwardly from the receiver and through the above mentioned slots 14 in the cradle 13, so that the upper and lower sides of the slots 14 constitute guides for the cradle 13, through the medium of-the lugs 17. To the outer ends-of these lugs 17 are connected the rear ends of a pair of piston rods 18, the

forward ends of which are provided with pistons 19 which workin recoil cylinders 20, the latter being fixed to the forward end of the cradle 13 in any suitable manner and extending forwardly of the same so as to be out of the way of the breech mechanism of the gun. Surrounding the piston rods .18

and disposed between the closed rear ends of the cylinders 20 and the pistons 19 are recoil springs 21.

The reference numeral 22 designates a pair of rods or guides which are secured at their front ends to'the lugs 17, and which have a cross bar or head 23 fixed to their rear ends. This cross head 23 is provided with an internally threaded openin 24 in which a screw 25, operated by a hand wheel 26, works. The forward end of the screw 25 has a swiveled connection with the rear end of a breech block 27, the latter being slidably mounted upon the rods 22 to open and close the guns breech. The breech block 27 is recessed, this recess being of greater diameter at its front .portion 28 than at its rear portion 29. Over the front or enlarged portion 28 of the recess is disposed a cover plate 30, the latter bein fastened to the breech block in any suitabfie manner.

Slidably mounted in the smaller portion 29 of the recess in the breech block is a tubular bolt or hammer 31, the latter being provided with an integrally formed plate 32 at its forward end and with an internal web 33 intermediate of its ends. The plate 32 has an annular series of screw threaded openings therein, and threaded in these openings are firing pins 34, the latter extending through openings arranged in the cover plate 30. A central firing pin 35 is threaded to the web 33.

Disposed within the rear end of the bolt 31 and bearing against the web 33 and the rear end of the reduced portion 29 of the recess of the breech block is a coil spring 36 which comprises a means for impelling the bolt to its extreme forward posltion when the latter is released. Surrounding the central firing in 35 and bearing against the web 33 an the plate 30 is a smaller and weaker coil spring 37, the purpose of the latter being to provide a cus ioning means for preventing injurv to the parts when the bolt 31 is impelle d to its forward position.v

To lock the bolt 31 in cocked position a spring pressed plunger 43 is provided. This lunger 43 extends transversely of the path of the hammer and slides through an opening in the breech block into engagement with an 0 )ening 44 formed in the bolt or hammer. t is rovided with a handle or trigger 45 by which it may be moved out of engagement with the bolt and the latter will then move forwardly under the action of its coil spring 36.

The rear end of the projectile receiver 15 is provided with a horizontally dis osed recess 46, and slidable transversely o the said receiver and into the said recess is a loading device 47, the body portion of which consists of a block load-holde'r-carrier 48 having a rod-49 extending from one end thereof and being slidably and turnably mounted in a bored member or bearing 50 carried by the projectile receiver, the rod 49 and bored member, 50, forming the means for guiding the loading device. Theblock 48 is recessed on its rear side as at 51, and slidable forwardly and rearwardly in this recess 51 is the cartridge holder or loadholder 52, the latter; being provided with a plurality of cartridge receivin openings 'or seats 53 and a number 0 openings through which extend rods 54:, one of t e ends of each of which is connected to the loadholder 52 while the other ends project through the forwardside of the block or load-holder-carrier 48 and into recesses 55 formed in the rear end of the projectile-receiver 15. The forward ends of the rods 54 are provided with stops which engage the front side of the block 48 to limit the rearward movement of the holder 52. Coil springs 56 surround these rods 54 and bear upon the block 48 and the holder 52 to normally maintain the latter in its extreme rearward position out of the recess 51.

One of the trunnions 12 is provided with a pinion 57 which meshes with a. worm 58 carried by a horizontally disposed shaft 59, the latter having a pinion 6O fixed thereon and meshing with this pinion 60 is a pinion 61 carried at one end of another horizontally disposed shaft 62, the latter being revolubly mounted upon one of the arms 11 of the carriage 3 and having its other end provided with a hand wheel 63 by which the elevation of the gun is adjusted. This hand wheel 63 is disposed adjacent the traversing hand wheel 4 so that it may be operated by the person who operates the hand wheel 1 without requiring him to move his position to do so.

The other trunnion 12 has a dial 64 fixed thereto, and cotiperating with this dial is a pointer 65 carried by; a bracket 66 fixed to the other arm 11 of t e carriage 3. Revolubly mounted in the bracket 66 upon a vertical axis is a table 67, the latter carrying a pointer 68 which cotiperates with a zero mark on the bracket in order to adjust the table on its vertical axis so that the sighting device 69 is carried on one end of a shaft 70 which is revolubly mounted on a horizontal axis uponthe table which can be brought into parallel relation with the central barrel of the gun. This shaft 70 carries another dial 71 which coiiperatcs with a pointer 72 carried 1) the table.

T 0 ion the gun the screw 25 is turned by means of its hand wheel 26 so as to move the breach block 27 to its opened position. The loading device 47 can then be slid out of the recess L6, in the rear end of the receiver 15. The cartridge holder 52 will obviously be projecteg out of the recess 51 in the block 48 under t e pressure of the coil springs 56. If the gun is elevated to a considerable ungle, the loading device 47 is turned until it is disposed in a substantially vertical plane. The shells or cartridges may then' easil be placed in the openin or seats W hen this is done, the loa ing device 47 is then slid backin place in the recess 46, and the breach block 27 is moved forward. The bolt 31 is cocked by operating the handle 41, and is locked in cocked position by means of the plunger 43 before the breech block is closed. As the breech block moves forwardly it will engage the rear side of the cartridge holder 52 and force the same forwardly into the recess 51 of the block 48. The shells or car tridges will then project into the rear ends of the bores ot the projectile-receiver, these bores being extensions of the bores of the barrels 16.

The gun is sighted by sighting the si ht ing device 69 upon the target and reading the dial graduation which is opposite the pointer 72. The elevating hand wheel 63 is then operated until a corresponding gradual tion of the dial 64 is brought opposite the pointer 65. After the elevation of the gun is set, the sighting device 69 is swung into parallelism with the central barrel 16 by swinging the table 67 until the pointer 68 is disposed opposite the zero mark carried by the table and the traversing hand wheel 4 is operated until the target can be again seen through the sightin device. The gun is then properly sighte and the trigger can be operated. All of the barrels disposed in the annular series are arranged in diverging relation and there is. more chance of one oi the shells hitting the target than if the gun was only provided with one barrel From the foregoing description. taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction, use and operation of the device will be readily understood without a more extended explanation.

As various changes in form, proportion. and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the construction herein shown and described other than as claimed.

1. In a gun, a loading device com rlsrng a carrier having a recess therein and av ng a supporting and guiding rod extendm therefrom, and a cartridge holder mounte or movement in said recess in a direction at right angles to that in whlch said supporting and guiding rod extends. I r

2. A of the class described including a barre -carrying projectile receiver, a cartridge-holder-carrier slidable transversely across the rear end of said receiver, guiding means for said cartrid e-holder-carrier, a cartridge holder carrie by said cartrid holder-carrier and bein movable for-war ly and rearwardly with re ation to said carrier, means for normally maintaining said cartridge holder in its outermost position, a breech block disposed at the rear end of said receiver and slidable forwardly and .rearwardly with respect thereto to closed and opened positions, means for moving said breech block to these positions, a firing pin carried by said breech block, and mechanlsm for operating said firing pin.

3. A gun of the class described including a projectile receiver, a block slidable transversely across the rear end of said receiver and havin a recess in its rear side, a cartrid hol er slidable forwardly and rearwar ly in said recess, elastic means for normally maintaining said cartridge holder in its rearmost position, a breech block disposed at the rear end of said receiver and slidable longitudinally with respect thereto to said seats being positione maintaining said cartri breech-closing and breech-opening positions and into an cartridge holder, said breec block being effective to force said holder into its forwardmost position when the breech is closed, means for movin said breech block to its breech-closing anfbreech-opening positions, a firing pin carried by said breech block, and mechanism for operating said firing in. 4. A gun of the class described inclu ing a pluralit of barrels, a projectile receiver with which said barrels are united, a carrier slidable transversely across the rear end of said receiver and having a recess in its rear side, a cartridge holder slidable forwardiy and rearwardly in said recess and provided with a plurality of cartridge receiving seats, with respect to said carrier so as to aline with the bores of said barrels when said carrier is in its innermost position, spring means for normally holder in its rearmost position, a breec block disposed at the rear end of said projectile receiver and slidable forward and rearward with recartridge holder,

, with a plurality out of enga ement with said and a breech block mounted at t spect thereto to closed and opened positions and-into and out of engagement with said the forward movement of said breech block forcing said holder into its forwardmost position means for moving said breech block to. said pin carried y said breech bl,pck, and trig ger mechanism for o crating said firing pin.

5. A of the c a plura it of barrels a projectile receiver with whic said barre s are united, a carrier slidable transversely erase the rear side of 7 said, receiver and having a recess in its rear side, a cartridge holder slidable forwardly and rearwardly of cartridge-receiving openings, said opemngs being positioned with respect to said carrier so as to aline with the bores of said barrels when said carrier is in its innermost position, rods extending forward and rearward through said carrier and said cartridge holder and provided with stops for 'limitin the rearward movement of the latter, coi springs disposed in said recess between said carrier and said cartridge holder and surrounding said rods for normally maintaining said carrier in its rearmost position, a breech block disposed at the rear end of said projectile receiver and slidable forward and rearward to closed and opened positions and into and out of engagement with "said cartridge holder, the forward movement forcing said holder into it .forwardmost position, means to its positions, a firi breech block, and mec said firing pin. a

6. A of the class described including a plurality of barrels, a receiver with which said barrels are united, a cartri container e rear end of said receiver, said breech block having a forwardly and rearwardl extending recess and a slot therein, said s at communicat' with said recess, the forward portion of pin carried by said anism for operating.

positions, a firingv for moving said breech block ass described including in said recess and provided.

of said breech block recess being enlarged'in diameter, a hammer slidably prising a lural- 1?: of firing pins carried by said p ate in a 'nement with the bores of said barrels, means for impelling said hammer to its forwardmost position, means for moving said hammer rearward into cocked position, and means for locking said hammer in cocked position.

7. In a gun, a projectile-receiver, a cradle in which said projectile-receiver is mounted for forward and rearward movements, said cradle being provided with forwardly and rearwardly extending guides, in united with said proectile receiver an coacting wrth said gui es to direct the projectile-receiver 1n 1ts movements, means connected to plate at its forward end a mounted in said recess and comsaid lugs and extending forwardly thereof In testimony whereof 1 have hereunto set to control the recoil of the projectile-remy hand in the presence of two subscribing ceiver, guiding .and supporting members Witnesses.

carried by said lugs and extending rear- FRANK BONALI. wardly thereof, and a breech-closing device Witnesses: carried and guided by said guiding and sup- O'r'ro MERBOLDT,

porting members. ARNOLD ZOBER. 

